Daily DIY – Why Your Band Should Be On Facebook
Recently Mike B created a presence on Facebook for his blog GarageSpin. Mike focuses on "the trends, technologies, and tools making waves
in garage-based home recording studios," but he's also known to take great side
trips to look at the many challenges and opportunities that indie musicians face.
For the next few days on Hypebot's Daily DIY, Mike shares how he created his page on Facebook. First, the what and the why of Facebook.
A Page Not A Profile
What is a "Facebook Page"? (i.e. not a "Facebook Profile")
Most folks know how to use Facebook to create a regular, personal profile page. But not everyone knows about "Facebook Pages",
and if you're a musician, band, or artist, you should. Facebook Pages
were created by Facebook to enable bands, artists, businesses,
politicians, whatever, to create pages for themselves within the social
network that are separate from personal profile pages.
Why Create a Facebook Page?
Well, it's super easy, so
why not? But more importantly, Facebook usage is skyrocketing,
and it's
become one of the most popular social platforms for sharing stuff
(links, photos, music, quotes, news, and random nonsense.) Rather than
my writing a "Facebook for Dummies" post, you should try it yourself if
you haven't already. Check out these traffic trends (Facebook is blue,
MySpace is red):
It's
clear that Facebook is currently crushing the once almighty MySpace,
and isn't close to stopping. As a musician or artist promoting music or
art, you need to get plugged in. The Band Page can be used to
communicate to fans, manage gig schedules, store video and event info,
and other stuff. You can see an example of one by checking out my GarageSpin page.
Next: How To Create A Facebook Page
I agree–more musicians need to take advantage of Facebook and the opportunities it does offer.
Some thoughts I posted last week on how musicians should be using Facebook: http://www.musicismydayjob.com/facebook-is-not-myspace
We just need a cleaner version of Myspace, which Groovetap is offering in its beta version.
Bruce, you know how much I hate self-promotion, but I couldn’t resist since this is core to what we do.
The quickest way for an Artist to take advantage of Facebook is to install the MyBand application from ReverbNation. Its the #1 application for Artists at Facebook with over 800,000 installs, and 500,000 monthly active users.
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2405167945
Why is is so popular?
Because using MyBand turns your personal profile (each member of the band has one) AND your facebook musician page into an extension of the Artist’s ReverbNation profile.
Once you add the app, a new tab is displayed on the individual pages and band page called ‘my band’. It contains essentially a mini website for the band where you can:
• Add a Bio and Band Photo
• Post unlimited songs for streaming or download
• Sell your music
• Allows friends/fans to join your mailing list
• Friends can add your music and share with their friends (viral)
• Include links to your homepage
• List upcoming shows w/links to buy tickets
• Grow your mailing list and street team
• Track your stats (who’s listening? who’s sharing? which songs?)
Works for any musician
• Signed Bands
• Independent Bands
• College Bands
• High School Bands
• Solo Artists